Even Without Value Cuts, Hamburger's 'Looks' Hold Steady

Research examines how ground chuck holds up when value cuts like the flat iron and Denver cut are removed.

Beef Producer | Apr 28, 2014

Removing value cuts from the chuck can result in benefits to producers and consumers, but is there a color or odor impact on the remaining meat, ground chuck?

Claire Ohman, a meat science graduate research assistant at the University of Missouri (MU), looked at the overall color and odor stability of ground chuck when value cuts like the flat iron and Denver cut were removed.

"We processed 24 beef steers over five months, isolating the left and right chucks," Ohman says.

Value cuts were removed from each animal's left chuck while the right chucks were processed in a traditional style. The two blends of ground chuck were made into patties and then analyzed for color stability and odor.

"When consumers go to the retail case to purchase meat, the biggest factor in their decision is the color of the meat," says Carol Lorenzen, MU professor of animal sciences. "So this project looked at not only changes in overall color but also changes in the percent of discoloration over a seven-day storage period."